Military Members Pitch In To Maintain Public Health

JULY 22, 2016, NORWICH, N.Y. – To maintain the safety of military members and patients daily, a team of public health officials inspect food, waste, industrial hygiene and water during the Greater Chenango Cares Innovative Readiness Training, July 15-24.

Though the IRT provides quality medical services at no costs to patients, an essential purpose for the mission is to allow military members to practice their skills in preparation for wartime operations. More than 190 Air Force, Army, and Navy personnel work together to offer medical, dental, optometry, and veterinary assistance. By inspecting regularly, public health ensures that members are able to do their work to help the community in a safe environment.

“It’s rewarding knowing that we are preventing problems from occurring,” said Lt. Col. Harry Moore, 136th Medical Group public health preventative medicine officer. “When situations arise, the first thing we think of is how we could have averted it all together. By taking preventive measures, we are minimizing the chances of our service members being exposed to anything that could effect their health or ability to perform the mission. A food-borne illness or exchange of bodily fluids can be dangerous–lethal or incapacitating.”

In a field environment, a water tank called a “water buffalo” is used to provide a clean, drinkable water source in the event that local potable water isn’t available. The tank is initially flushed with a super chlorination system to kill all organisms, and then again to wash out excess chemicals. The tank is then refilled with drinkable water. Every day, Preventive Medicine personnel check the chlorine and water levels, as well as the tap to ensure that it’s coming out clear.

“Though we don’t necessarily use the water buffalo here, everything we are doing is preparation for real-world events,” Moore said. With food, we are looking at product storage, which includes refrigeration and freezer temperatures, food handling, preparation, and serving. It’s important to make sure as items are prepared for everyone’s consumption, that we examine overall sanitation and hygiene practices just to ensure that we are providing the safest and healthiest meals we can for our service members.”

Army Staff Sgt. Kellee Carraway, 789th Preventive Medicine Detachment training non-commissioned officer, has worked in preventative medicine for 11 years, and stressed the importance of industrial hygiene and waste disposal as well, which are also key inspection items that public health monitors.

“In a hospital environment, proper disposal of biohazards materials are essential to safety,” said Carraway. “To keep our service members safe and healthy to serve the community, we make sure to take the bio-waste materials from both the dentist and veterinary areas to local contracted centers for final disposal. We also monitor industrial hygiene issues, which mainly involve the air conditioning units and generators in the building. Our job is to ensure that they are far enough from working areas so they do not pose a noise hazard, as well as ensuring that the condensation lines aren’t pooling creating a health hazard.

Comments

MARCH 19, 2018, Groton, CT – The USS Colorado, commissioned here March 17, is the first submarine to bear the name and third vessel to be named for the state. The submarine was brought to life by her sponsor, Annie Maybus Mabus, daughter of former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. “To the crew of USS Colorado, […]

MARCH 8, 2018, Camp Pendleton, CA – This marks the first male-female integrated Marine Combat Training Company on the West Coast. “It is important, one team one fight, at the end of the day it’s to show the Marine Corps can produce [Marines] regardless of gender and complete any mission.” Said Sgt. Ambar Gonzalez, a […]

Raising children in a military family environment is difficult and full of perils. There will always be a parent missing from a birthday photo, and sometimes they both might be off somewhere in a boot camp or a distant battlefield. But what does this mean for the children that get dragged along with them? While […]

Whether you served four years or 35, most veterans transition back to civilian life and look for a new job or even a new career. And your service makes you an attractive candidate in many fields. As you consider the many opportunities, borrow some of our tips to keep health and well-being as a priority […]

FEBRUARY 23, 2018, Grafenwoehr, Germany – Financial instability and debt resulting in marital problems, loss of security clearance or even suicide degrade mission readiness. But there are fixes. “Soldiers’ top priority is to maintain their deployability,” said Command Sgt. Maj Mike Sutterfield, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria’s command sergeant major.Contact a Recruiter! Being ready to go […]

This is a private website that is not affiliated with the U.S. government, U.S. Armed Forces, or Department of Veterans Affairs. U.S. government agencies have not reviewed this information. This site is not connected with any government agency. If you would like to find more information about benefits offered by the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, please visit the official U.S. government web site for veterans benefits at http://www.va.gov.